Sony has announced a launch date for a new feature that will allow PlayStation Plus Premium members to stream PS5 games, just like they’ve been able to do with PS3 and PS4 games for a while.
The streaming service will roll out first in Japan on October 17, then in supported European countries (the full list is in Sony’s blog post) on October 23, and finally in North America on October 30.
Not all games will be supported, but it sounds like quite a few will. Sony platform experience executive Hideaki Nishino writes in a blog post that streaming will be available “for supported PS5 digital titles within the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Game Trials, as well as supported titles in the PS5 game library that PlayStation Plus Premium members own.”
That includes “hundreds of titles.” The blog post doesn’t name every title, but Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Forbidden West, and Mortal Kombat 11 are among those listed. Users will also be able to stream game trials for several games; the examples given were The Calisto Protocol, Hogwarts Legacy, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Those examples are all titles that are also available for download by PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers. In a departure from past policy, Sony will now offer certain games that the user has purchased outside of the subscription service to be streamed. Named examples include Resident Evil 4 and Genshin Impact. This won’t be available for every PS5 game, though.
Sony PlayStation 5 console
Streamed games will support 4K, 1440p, 1080p, and 720p resolutions at framerates up to 60 fps. They’ll also support HDR. Notably missing is 120 fps, which some PS5 games offer in their performance modes. On the audio side, we’re looking at 5.1 and 7.1 surround and Tempest Audiotech. (No word about Atmos.)
It’s worth noting that Sony says PS5 cloud streaming will only work on PS5 consoles, at least at first. That’s one of a few ways it seems like Sony is still playing catchup with Microsoft’s game-streaming offerings. This PS5 streaming feature is only available on the Plus Premium membership, too, and that’s the most expensive tier Sony offers; it costs $160 annually.
This launch comes just a couple of weeks before the planned launch of PlayStation Portal, a streaming-exclusive handheld. However, that handheld only supports remote play from an existing PS5 console, and it won’t be able to stream games from the cloud on its own.
